How to Disable InPrivate Browsing in Microsoft Edge Chromium (Windows and macOS)
But to make matters worse, Microsoft Edge Chromium also offers an InPrivate navigation mode. It is quite similar to InPrivate in the non-Chromium version of Edge and does not keep any records of your offline browsing history. Unless you're the only user of Microsoft Edge Chromium on your PC or Mac, having floating InPrivate browser windows is a bad idea.
For starters, you have no idea what your friend, brother or colleague was doing on your PC or Mac. Get the kids involved in the mix, and this is just a recipe for disaster. So if you want absolute monitoring of what's going on on your PC or Mac, you should consider disabling InPrivate mode in Microsoft Edge Chromium.
Some time ago, I explained how you should turn off incognito mode in Chrome. Since Microsoft Edge Chromium has the same rendering engine, we will use a similar process to disable InPrivate navigation. Let's start with the Windows version of Microsoft Edge Chromium, then dive into the macOS version.
Disable InPrivate browsing in Windows
Disabling InPrivate browser windows in Microsoft Edge Chromium requires you to create a simple entry in the system registry of your Windows 10 device. But rather than tinkering in Registry Editor and eventually breaking something, I suggest using the command prompt or Windows PowerShell in Windows 10 to get the job done. The procedure is quite simple and can be accomplished in seconds.
Step 1: Press the Windows Key + S keyboard shortcut to open Windows Search. type cmd in the search bar and then click Run as administrator to launch an elevated command prompt console.
If you prefer to use Windows PowerShell instead, type PowerShell in Windows Search instead, then click Run as administrator.
2nd step: Copy and paste the following command into the command prompt console:
REG ADD HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftEdge /v InPrivateModeAvailability /t REG_DWORD /d 1
If you opened Windows PowerShell, copy and paste this command:
cmd.exe /c REG ADD HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftEdge /v InPrivateModeAvailability /t REG_DWORD /d 1
Press enter. Once the message “ The operation has been completed successfully & #39; & #39; appears on the screen, exit the Command Prompt or PowerShell window.
Step 3: Quit Microsoft Edge Chromium, relaunch it and you should find the option to open new grayed InPrivate browser windows in the Edge menu. In addition, the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N for a new InPrivate window will not work.
If you want to reactivate InPrivate browser windows later, type the command below in an elevated command prompt console and press Enter:
REG DELETE HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftEdge /v InPrivateModeAvailability /f
If you prefer to use Windows PowerShell, copy and paste this command instead:
cmd.exe /c REG DELETE HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftEdge /v InPrivateModeAvailability /f
Make sure to quit and relaunch Microsoft Edge Chromium for the change to take effect.
Disable InPrivate navigation on macOS
Disabling InPrivate browser windows in Microsoft Edge Chromium on a Mac involves running a specific command through the macOS terminal. Follow the steps below and you should be done in an instant.
Step 1: Open Finder, click Go on the macOS menu bar, then select Utilities.
2nd step: Double-click the icon labeled Terminal to launch the macOS terminal.
Point: You can also use Spotlight to access the terminal more quickly (press Cmd + Space> type Terminal> press Enter).
Step 3: Copy and paste the following command into Terminal:
defaults write com.microsoft.edge InPrivateModeAvailability -integer 1
Press Enter to execute the command, then exit Terminal.
Step 4: Save your work, restart your Mac, then open Microsoft Edge Chromium.
Show the Edge menu and the option to launch InPrivate navigation windows should appear grayed out. In addition, the keyboard shortcut Shift + Cmd + N linked to the functionality will not work either.
If you want to reactivate InPrivate browser windows later, just type the following command in a terminal window and press Enter:
defaults write com.microsoft.edge InPrivateModeAvailability -integer 0
Remember to restart your Mac to allow the change to take effect.
Confidentiality issues… No
Confidentiality is important if you take it seriously. Turning off InPrivate mode in Microsoft Edge Chromium should help you a lot in this regard. Of course, anyone can just cover their tracks by deleting the browsing history instead. But the lack of InPrivate browser windows removes the convenience factor and will certainly help, at least to some extent.
So why did you turn off InPrivate mode in Microsoft Edge Chromium? Feel free to leave a comment and let us know.
Then: InPrivate browser windows disabled in Microsoft Edge Chromium on your Mac? This will not prevent someone from using Safari to surf privately. Here's how to turn off incognito windows in Safari.